In the United States there were about 500 million credit cards in circulation in 1974, and an additional 200 million were issued that year on new accounts or to cover maintenance of accounts (renewal). These numbers do not include the emerging debit card field (for bank or for savings and loan account access), nor the ID and security card fields.
With the advent of such large numbers of cards, there has been perceived a need for remote location verification of credit or information carried by such cards to insure that the use of the cards is proper. For example, it is important to check the current status of an account at the time the card is presented for use at a retail merchant. The present system involves the use of lists of bad accounts which are checked by the store clerk. Also, where purchases exceed a specified amount, an authorization code must be first obtained by telephoning a central authorization bureau.
There is a need for accurate mechanical reading of the credit cards and transmittal by electronic means of the information to such centers for checking and entry of the amount of purchase. This is one step in the trend toward electronic transfer of funds, credit and information carried on and by such cards.
There is also a need for the mechanical reading of information from security and ID cards to permit access to various places, such as homes, places of business, factories, and the like.
There is also a need for verification of the correct information on credit cards, debit cards, account cards, ID and security cards at the time of their manufacture and just prior to their being forwarded on to the account or card holder for use. It is extremely important to insure that the card holder receives the correct card as well as the correct number of cards. This is particularly the case for ID or security cards where if the wrong person receives the wrong card, he could then gain access to valuable information or goods. Similarly, this is extremely important in the area of account cards wherein possession of a card gives access to the personal account. If the wrong account card is mailed to the wrong person, then that person may have unauthorized access to several thousands of dollars of funds of the person. At present, there is no automatic system for insuring that the information on credit cards is read and checked just prior to mailing. There is a need to determine the account information on the card and compare that with the address on the credit card carrier or envelope to insure that the card, and the right number of cards, are being mailed to the proper person. There is also a need at this time to verify that the account is a good account and that the card is not being mailed to a bad account.
There is also a need for a Braille or hollerith-type punch reader that can mechanically scan information of such type on sheet material and transform it into optical and/or electronic form for further processing.